Periodicals

Most organizations listed below have websites. For a current list, see Alabama Department of Archives and History at www.archives.state.al.us/referenc/hsglist.html. There are more than thirty-five periodicals published in Alabama by local and state historical and genealogical organizations. The Genealogical Periodical Annual Index and the Periodical Source Index, 1847–1985 (see page 10) survey some of these publications as well as articles on Alabama from periodicals done outside the state.

Newspapers

The earliest newspapers in the state were located in the Tombigbee-Mobile area and included the Mobile Sentinel, Fort Stoddert (1811); Mobile Gazette, Mobile (1812); Halcyon, St. Stephens (1815); and Blakeley Sun and Alabama Advertiser, Blakeley (1819). Early newspapers from the Tennessee Valley included the Madison Gazette, Huntsville (1812); Florence Gazette, Florence (1820); and Tuscumbia Advertiser, Tuscumbia (1821). Other pre-statehood papers included the Cahawba Press and Alabama Intelligencer, Cahawba (1819); Alabama Courier, Claiborne (1819); and Tuscaloosa Republican, Tuscaloosa (1819). Books of abstracts from Alabama newspapers compiled and published by Pauline Jones Gandrud, and others by Michael Kelsey, Nancy Graff Floyd, and Ginny Guinn Parsons, are available in print.

Alabama law requires all county newspapers that carry legal notices to be maintained by that county’s probate judge. Few of the county collections are complete.

The Alabama Department of Archives and History has participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities project to preserve old newspapers. A statewide inventory of all repositories was followed by a project to microfilm newspapers of historic significance.

Through the Alabama Newspaper Project, the Alabama Department of Archives and History has microfilmed newspapers from every county in the state. A list of those on microfilm both at the archives and through FHL can be found on its website www.archives.state.al.us/newsmicro/search.cfm. These are available for purchase or through interlibrary loan from the department. A list of other original newspapers, not microfilmed, and a statewide alphabetical collection of funeral notices and anniversary announcement in newspapers 1950 to 1978 is also available.

Manuscripts

Several important genealogical manuscript collections concerning Alabama should be considered. The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections is the first source to check for major collections in Alabama, although many minor collections will not be cited. The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the official repository for records of all state agencies and for the personal papers of many important public figures. Of significance to the genealogist, in the University of Alabama’s William Stanley Hoole Library is the professional correspondence of Pauline Jones Gandrud, a professional genealogical researcher for over forty-five years. Gandrud also compiled 245 volumes of abstracted records from forty Alabama counties. These have been published under the title Alabama Records and are available from Southern Historical Press (1980– ). The Hoole Library also maintains various pre-statehood records for Madison County.